Tesco Burglar Who Used Stolen Pickup in £3,000 Raid Jailed For Three Years

A man who used a stolen pickup truck to smash into a Tesco Express and steal £3,000 in cash has been jailed for three years.

Robin Vaughan, 35, drove a stolen silver Nissan Navara 4x4 into the front of the store in Northwich, Cheshire, before stealing £3,000 in cash and a bag of parcels at around 12:40 a.m. on June 16.

Vaughan, of Lyon Close, St Helens, Merseyside, admitted one count of conspiracy to burgle and was sentenced to three years in prison at Chester Crown Court.

Police responding to the break-in at the Tesco Express in Weaverham found the stolen vehicle abandoned in a field about five miles away in Dutton, Cheshire. The stolen parcels were later recovered from a nearby pond.

CCTV and automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) footage showed the Navara had been driven from Merseyside to Weaverham the night before the raid and parked near the store. It had travelled in convoy with a blue Ford Focus, which returned to Merseyside before heading back to Weaverham on the night of the burglary.

Officers traced the Ford to Southdene, Kirkby, where Vaughan and a 39-year-old woman were arrested.

Following the sentencing, PC Dan Lee of Northwich Proactive CID said: "I hope this serves as a warning to anyone thinking of coming to Cheshire to commit crime.

Not only did Vaughan steal over £3,000 in cash, but he also caused more than £35,000 worth of damage to the store, which had to close for two days, resulting in a further £24,000 loss in trade. Thankfully, Vaughan has now been held accountable for his actions."

GV Hale